What Causes Insulin Resistance? Part III

As discussed in previous posts, cellular energy excess and inflammation are two important and interlinked causes of insulin resistance.  Continuing our exploration of insulin resistance, let's turn our attention to the brain.

The brain influences every tissue in the body, in many instances managing tissue processes to react to changing environmental or internal conditions.  It is intimately involved in insulin signaling in various tissues, for example by:

• regulating insulin secretion by the pancreas (1)
• regulating glucose absorption by tissues in response to insulin (2)
• regulating the suppression of glucose production by the liver in response to insulin (3)
• regulating the trafficking of fatty acids in and out of fat cells in response to insulin (4, 5)

Because of its important role in insulin signaling, the brain is a candidate mechanism of insulin resistance.

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What Causes Insulin Resistance? Part II

In the last post, I described how cellular energy excess causes insulin resistance, and how this is triggered by whole-body energy imbalance.  In this post, I'll describe another major cause of insulin resistance: inflammation. 

Inflammation

In 1876, a German physician named W Ebstein reported that high doses of sodium salicylate could totally eliminate the signs and symptoms of diabetes in certain patients (Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift. 13:337. 1876). Following up on this work in 1901, the British physician RT Williamson reported that treating diabetic patients with sodium salicylate caused a striking decrease in the amount of glucose contained in the patients' urine, also indicating an apparent improvement in diabetes (2).  This effect was essentially forgotten until 1957, when it was rediscovered.

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What Causes Insulin Resistance? Part I

Insulin is an ancient hormone that influences many processes in the body.  Its main role is to manage circulating concentrations of nutrients (principally glucose and fatty acids, the body's two main fuels), keeping them within a fairly narrow range*.  It does this by encouraging the transport of nutrients into cells from the circulation, and discouraging the export of nutrients out of storage sites, in response to an increase in circulating nutrients (glucose or fatty acids). It therefore operates a negative feedback loop that constrains circulating nutrient concentrations.  It also has many other functions that are tissue-specific.

Insulin resistance is a state in which cells lose sensitivity to the effects of insulin, eventually leading to a diminished ability to control circulating nutrients (glucose and fatty acids).  It is a major contributor to diabetes risk, and probably a contributor to the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and a number of other disorders. 

Why is it important to manage the concentration of circulating nutrients to keep them within a narrow range?  The answer to that question is the crux of this post. 

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POP Champagne Bar Launches The Champagne Diet™ Menu

I am SO excited to share this news with you guys!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Bob Earhart, one of the owners of POP Champagne Bar in LA reached out to me to tell me how excited he was about The Champagne Diet™. Not only was he totally on board with the concept of living your most effervescent life, he was super excited that he could eat healthy, putting only the best in his body, AND still drink Champagne. As an owner of a Champagne bar who is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, this was amazing news for him.

Bob loved the idea so much that he decided to launch The Champagne Diet™ menu at POP! Bob worked with his chef to develop an amazing menu that really reflects the true essence of The Champagne Diet. High quality, nutritious foods paired with delicious Champagne. Who could say no to that?

The menu just rolled out this week and I'm thrilled to share it with you guys. It looks delicious! I mean, HELLO? Who wouldn't want to dine this way every night?? Hopefully I'll be hopping on a plane sometime in the very near future to go taste it myself!

If you're in the LA area, be sure to check out POP bar. Tell em The Champagne Diet sent ya! Also be sure to follow Bob's progress as he lives HIS most effervescent life!

New York Times Magazine Article on Obesity

For those of you who haven't seen it, Tara Parker-Pope write a nice article on obesity in the latest issue of NY Times Magazine (1).  She discusses  research showing  that the body "resists" fat loss attempts, making it difficult to lose fat and maintain fat loss once obesity is established.
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Gluten-Free Orange Almond Muffins

A kiss of orange infuses these sunny gluten-free muffins.

Life in short bursts.

Here comes the sun. Baby daylight is yawning herself awake, stretching like a blinking blue-eyed kitten into a brand new year. Little by little we are inching ever so nonchalant toward Groundhog Day, toward snowdrops poking through the crust of winter snow, toward pink horizons and bird calls. But I am not bothering to count the days of winter. And I am not bothering to count calories. I am lingering in my passion for comfort food. For baking. For muffins.

In between bowls of vegan detox soup.

Because I know the deal. I know my body's cycle. I understand that I slow down in winter. I hibernate. I conserve energy. Translation: I put on a few pounds. I have evidence to prove it. But I no longer panic. I have danced around this yearly cycle a time or two. Well. More like fifty-two. Plus five. But who's counting?

Not me.

I dream instead. Of romance. Of ease. Of psychic room to breathe. I imagine an early spring and the scents of almond and orange come to mind- not for any particular reason or culinary logic. It's just whimsy. Or maybe it's because the sweet breezy taste of citrus feels bright and refreshing after all the dense flavors of the season, like pumpkin streusel and cranberry and sweet potato. I ponder iPhone photography apps and process images for Instagram while I stir gluten-free flours into muffin batter (I multitask my yearnings).

Truth is, I follow my cravings. And I honor them. Most of the time. Which sometimes means ignoring them, frankly (cocktail hour can be one long nightmare of an hour, especially in the grip of Midwinter). And sometimes honoring means listening to cravings. Acknowledging them. Validating them. Then grabbing them by the scruff of the neck and plunking them onto the Time Out chair.

And going for a walk- to let them sulk in silence.

But sometimes a craving is as simple and true as a muffin. A gluten-free muffin, thankfully (Goddess knows I lost my taste for wheat years ago). And in the grand scheme of things, a muffin is one craving I can live with.

Today.

And you know me.

I take things one kitten-blinking day at a time.


Read more + get the recipe >>

Pasta with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes (C3)

Pasta with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes (C3)

Enough cooked whole wheat pasta for 4 servings
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 small zucchini, cut in half moons
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 basil leaves, cut into strips
1/2 cup lowfat Parmesan cheese, grated

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 1-2 minutes (until slightly yellow).

Add zucchini and saute for 4-5 minutes (until lightly brown).  Then add tomatoes and saute for 2 more minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions; then drain and toss with the sauce.

Stir in basil and cheese -- then serve!

Simmie's Notes:
While this isn't technically called a salad, it sure seems like one to me.  It would be great to take to a potluck -- really easy and quick to make!